Also, the destkop installer iso does copy correctly to the first (fat32) partition if you use the ISO_1 option, because it unpacks the iso file and no single file is bigger than 4GB. But you still have to mount it manually.

For a live-iso, use ISO_2 from the refracta2usb menu. That will use the findiso option. When it copies the iso, it will not copy the whole thing and might even fail. You can delete that copy of the iso.

Copy the (good) iso to a directory on the second partition that's named the same as the directory just made on the first partition.

Boot menu entries should look something like this.

label big-iso
    menu label big-iso
    kernel /big-iso/vmlinuz
    append initrd=/big-iso/initrd.img boot=live findiso=/big-iso/my_big_live.iso

menuentry "big-iso " {
    set gfxpayload=keep
    linux /big-iso/vmlinuz boot=live findiso=/big-iso/my_big_live.iso
    initrd /big-iso/initrd.img
}

For an installer iso, you can leave out the "boot=live findiso=<whatever>"
The installer will start and will fail when it tries to find the cdrom
Drop to a shell and mount it manually.

mount -t ext4 /dev/sdb2 /mnt
mount -oloop,ro /mnt/big-installer-iso/devuan_<whatever>.iso /cdrom
exit

And let the installer find the installation media.

I didn't want to risk damage messing with it's partitions and and no "spare" usb was available.

A successful and complete new netinstall worked here exactly as described, on an older uefi-only toshiba satellite.

Nice addition to my multiboot portable toolkit!

I.e. not a file... that you create an additional, separate partition on the USB, of the same size as the ISO and dd the ISO onto that partition.

Perhaps you also need to have kernel and initrd available in the other filesystem, for that boot loader to work, but the installer will look for the ISO on partitions, not as a file.

Use the latest version of refracta2usb available here -
https://get.refracta.org/files/tools/re … ~4_all.deb
or here -
https://exegnulinux.net/files/refracta2usb/

1. You should start with a usb that already has one live system on it and was prepared using refracta2usb. I tried it with just the netinstall iso and it only worked for legacy bios boot. It didn't work with uefi boot and I did not investigate further.
See the fine documentation that comes with refracta2usb for basic instructions.
(Hint: click on Help inside the app or look in /usr/lib/refracta2usb/help_r2u.txt)

PREPARE THE USB STICK
Start refracta2usb, select the usb device and the select ISO_1 from the menu.
The contents of the iso file will be put into a directory on the usb. Give it a name.
Example name: freia-netinstall
Select the iso
Select the boot menu from the iso (for reference): /boot/isolinux/menu.cfg
Select the kernel: /boot/isolinux/linux
Select the initrd: /boot/isolinux/initrd.gz
Additional boot options: none here
Isolinux boot menu opens in text editor.
Remove live-boot and live-config options.  (i.e. boot=live and probably everything on the line after that.)
Add "priority=low" if you want Expert install.

Example:

label freia-netinstall
	menu label freia-netinstall
    kernel /freia-netinstall/boot/isolinux/linux 
    append initrd=/freia-netinstall/boot/isolinux/initrd.gz priority=low vga=788 --- 

Save and close the editor.

Grub boot menu opens in text editor. Do similar edits.

Example:

menuentry "freia-netinstall " {
    set gfxpayload=keep
    linux   /freia-netinstall/boot/isolinux/linux priority=low ---   
    initrd  /freia-netinstall/boot/isolinux/initrd.gz
}

Save and close the editor.
When the refracta2usb main menu comes up, you can Exit.

USE THE NETINSTALL
To use the netinstall iso, boot the usb stick and select the netinstall
from the boot menu. The installer will start and ask about locales and
keyboard, then it will fail because it can't find the cdrom.
Continue to get to the installer menu and scroll down to select
"Execute a shell"

In the shell, mount the first partition of the usb stick. And then
bind mount the netinstall directory on the stick to /cdrom.

Example Be sure to name the correct device! /dev/sdb1 is an Example:
You can run 'fdisk -l' in the shell to make sure the usb is the device you think it is.

mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt
mount --bind /mnt/freia-netinstall /cdrom
exit

This brings you back to the installer which should return to the menu.
Select "Detect and mount installation media"
and proceed with the installation.